Dave Davenport (dogspunk)

I <3 Social Media

Added 2016-05-06 05:02:36 +0000 UTC

I have struggled a bit with posting this, because it depicts an actual interaction (or a paraphrasing thereof) with a friend over social media. This was, obviously, last year when Black Lives Matter interrupted a Sanders rally in Seattle, and Bernie gave them the mic. It was the first time I encountered anyone who was anti-Bernie seemingly because he wasn't Hillary. Anyhow, I don't want to seem like I am attacking this person. This doesn't misrepresent them in the interaction, nor am I mocking them verbally or in caricature.

But this moment stayed with me. I was dumbstruck that someone, like this person, who is a social justice blogger and has a soapbox, was obviously biased, and just plain not open to reasoning. I would months later log onto twitter (something I rarely do) and just randomly come across him tweeting "Sanders just needs to go away, now". I asked him about that, and we had a very similar conversation that ended in something like "Sanders is just never going to have the support of minorities, and he just doesn't inspire me". Of course he goes on to defend Hillary when Black Lives Matters interrupts a speech she is giving, one where she shuts down the activist, rather than let them speak. In our last conversation he was correct in stating to me that we could have different opinions, but he, like so many of Hillary's supporters, seems to take umbrage that Sanders is even running, and take no prisoners in their constant mocking of Bernie and belittling his supporters.

I stopped following this person, and eventually blocked them when they just kept "liking" every time someone said something negative about Sanders on my pages. I regret this only in that I can't remember the exact wording of the dismissive last word balloon in this strip, and I can't go back now and see what he said exactly.

So again, I struggle with the directness of this representation, but it's reason for being is to show the setting of tone for this political season for me.